Shopping in my closet

More refashions/alterations for Me-Made-May! What I love is that I feel like I'm literally shopping in my closet. Most of the things in my massive alteration/refashion piles are things that have long fallen out of favor or never quite fit with everything else in the wardrobe but for some reason I can't bear to toss.

Refashioning is wonderful for precisely that reason: not only does it force me to look in my closet to meet meet wardrobe needs but with a little ingenuity I can reclaim some of the merit I'd originally seen in an item. I'm focusing my practical wardrobe for May on creating/repurposing tops I actually like (in a color other than black) and warm-weather bottoms. Really casual.

In my last post, I noted that I hemmed a pair of thrifted J Crew jeans, which I bought to replace a pair of (also thrifted) wide-leg Banana Republic jeans that I knew looked awful. I kept them because the denim is lightweight and soft, perfect for summer.

After moderate success with my red cigarette pants, I used the same pattern to slim these bad boys down. I took in the waist and back seam 2 inches and radically tapered the leg. It's still a tad too roomy by the waist, the opposite problem I have with the red pants. Sigh. But I'm learning.

Before:

After:

In addition to slim pants, I've been wanting more white in my wardrobe (and the surplice cut was a plus for my small bust). This gauze top set me back 99 cents at the thrift store but has been sitting in my closet for over a month. Why? I didn't like the cap/ruffly sleeves. Tuck 'em and sew: Totally wearable!

Before:

After:

And finally, this is an Old Navy tee I used to wear a lot for work, but it's gotten very little wear in the past four years. I think I hold onto it because in my head it's my Lelaina Pearce shirt. Remember Reality Bites? I so wanted to be her when I was 15.


But I no longer liked the crew neck and I'm outgrowing this shade of red. So I decided to cut the neckline, modeled after an American Apparel top I just thrifted, and played with my rolled hem foot. The neckline turned out all wonky, but I kind of like that. Perhaps the raw look of it will pair nicely with something more formal (grandpa cardigan, blazer?)

Before:

After:

I also altered a pair of Billabong capris that has gotten close to zero use since I bought them five years ago. Annoying pocket and cuffs fixed!

With this newest dent, I think I'll take a refashioning break and sew some tops and shorts from scratch. It feels great to finally be making some leeway with these old items as they're very low investment (they're already on hand and most take 15 minutes or so), high reward!